There are only two days left until Doček, when we will step into the year in which Novi Sad, on 13 January, will officially become the European Capital of Culture. While we eagerly await the performances of local and foreign performers in Suburbium, the epicentre of Doček, who will perform on 31 December as part of the unique light spectacle of the Tesla Light Gallery, and whose partner is the NIS company, we present to you three symbols of Novi Sad, which will be a trademark and a symbol of Doček 2022. In addition to the Suburbium, we’ll also highlight the Rainbow Bridge, as well as the famous Belgrade Gate in Petrovaradin, which will be lit up on New Year’s Eve, as well as on 1 January, thanks to special light installations which will adorn their authentic appearance with artistic shades.
Rainbow Bridge
The Varadin Bridge, or the Rainbow Bridge as the people of Novi Sad call it, is the first symbol of Doček, because on 31 December it will be the place where the people of Novi Sad and visitors will meet Nikola Tesla, the first honorary citizen of Novi Sad.
Right there, at the beginning of the bridge from the Novi Sad side, the play Tesla the Inventor, in cooperation with the Serbian National Theatre and directed by Nebojša Bradić, will be premiered. After the performance, we will form a procession that will wake up and symbolically illuminate the 356-metre-long Rainbow Bridge, all the way to the Petrovaradin Fortress Suburbium, where Tesla’s Light Gallery begins, lasting until 1 January, and whose partner is the NIS company.
We’ll remind you that this bridge was restored in 2000 after the bombing in 1999, and while the bridge structure was being assembled, a rainbow appeared in the sky over the Danube, which encouraged the designer Prof. Gojko Nenadić to propose the name of the bridge – Varadin Rainbow, which was later renamed Varadin Bridge.
The Petrovaradin Fortress Suburbium
In the procession, which will symbolically ‘build’ a bridge over the Danube with its passage over the Rainbow Bridge on 31 December, we will reach the Suburbium, where we will continue the story of Tesla ‘written’ (thanks to the light installations of the Tesla Light Gallery) on the facades of pastel-coloured buildings, which are restored after 300 years as part of the European Capital of Culture project. The old baroque town, located at the base of the Petrovaradin Fortress, will be the epicentre of Doček in its new guise. It was built during the 17th and 18th centuries, and the whole of Novi Sad originated from this place.
As part of Doček, we will ‘revive’ Tesla and bring him to Novi Sad to light it up again, as he did 130 years ago when he brought electricity to Serbian Athens. Thanks to his technologies, multimedia artists will illuminate the Suburbium within the Tesla Light Gallery. In synergy with the current names of the European and domestic music scene, it will turn Suburbium into a big energy flash on that side of the Danube. Join us on the craziest night in the Suburbium and expect a unique audio-visual experience! Find more about the programme, performers, and schedule on the Doček website.
Belgrade Gate
Through Belgrade Street in Suburbium we can reach the Belgrade Gate, built in 1753. The Belgrade Gate is one of the former three main gates of the Petrovaradin Fortress. It was built between the Bastion of St. Benedict and the Bastion of St. Francis on the main road toward Sremski Karlovci and Belgrade. In addition to the existing gate, the former one also included a front open gate and a bridge over the moat, but this was removed before World War II during the reconstruction of the road and the construction of another vehicular crossing. This gate consists of two different facades, and on the inside, towards the Suburbium, there is an open porch from where you descend into an underground minefield. The facade is designed in the baroque-classical style.
Right by the Belgrade Gate, which is the third symbol of Doček, the main stage will be set up where DJ Dark Angel and Noise Destruction will perform on 31 December, and the bands Minilinija and Kruder & Dorfmeister on 1 January as part of the Tesla Light Gallery. See you in Suburbium!
Author: Marina Marić
Photo: Jelena Ivanović, ECoC, Promo
